Recently in Chicago Category
First off, I would like to reply to Adam's comment about pranking us. It was a pretty swell prank, but our rebuttal was so much sweeter. The night after their prank, we girls set our cell phone alarms to various times during the night and hid them all on the first floor where the guys were sleeping. Ok, I do have to apologize to Matt Reno for having to stay up for four hours trying to find the phones as they went off... Anyway, they took our phones captive and around 1:30 or so the next night Julie Johnson's cell phone alarm goes off. Nobody moved to turn it off. It went off again and I decided that if that was how it was going to be, I was going to sleep on the third floor. So I gathered my stuff and walk out the door only to find the four potted lilies from the first floor sitting in the hallway. I laughed to myself and checked out the situation. The guys had put our cell phones in the lilies and wrote us notes with The Beatles lyrics on them. I woke up some of the girls and we all had a good laugh. So the following night we made encouragement cards for the guys. I suppose that's the best way to end a prank war. :)
We had a lot of fun and jokes and games on this trip, but, like Adam and Sam have written already, most of our trip was some real intense learning and experiencing. Early Wednesday afternoon, while the guys were putting drywall up, we girls went on a scavenger hunt to get more acquainted with the Southside. We ended up at a cafe/art school called the Little Black Pearl. Basically the Pearl is a place for high schoolers to go during or after school to learn how to paint, sculpt, whatever. And it's free for them! They just have to sign up. They make artwork for the cafe to sell and also for advertising for other non-profits. And this stuff isn't sloppy art, it's incredible art. For instance, next time you drive along the Dan Ryan (I-90/94) expressway in Chicago, check out the decals on the wall beside the highway. Those kids made them! Just amazing.
Wednesday we also went to Pacific Garden Mission and toured their shelter. (For all your old-schoolers out there, that is the mission that broadcasts "Unshackled" on the radio) God has blessed them with a new building and they are able to house so many more people now. They also have free food, a free clinic (which I, being a pre-med student, found particularly interesting), a garden, and ministries to meet the spiritual needs of others. Our tour guide had a great story too. He used to be homeless, but a year ago he committed to one of the programs at PGM. He now lives and works there spreading the love of Jesus.
Thursday we visited Jesus People USA or JPUSA and learned about their ministry. JPUSA was founded during the Jesus Movement way back before I was a thought process and it's basically around 400 Christians living in a former hotel in Uptown, Chicago. They have a record label and the top half of their building is affordable housing for senior citizens, one of whom I met named Vernon and had a 50 minute conversation with about aliens, the government, Spaceballs, pet rats, motorcycles and Wisconsin. Ask me about it sometime. I'd be more than willing to elaborate.
Friday we went to Little India and visited South Asia Friendship Center and learned about Islam and how to respond to Muslims. We were going to go to a mosque, but we ran late and didn't make it in time. Instead we listened and were challenged by a man named Sam about our faith. He was so intense! I mean, he knew the Bible in and out. He knew verses without notes or looking them up. But he told us that we have to know our faith, especially when conversing with Muslims. He was pointed and blunt at times, and a little harsh, but what he said was oh so relevant.
Saturday we spent some time by ourselves just to reflect on the trip. So I came up with my Top 10 Highlight Reel from this week (in no particular order):
1) Pacific Garden Mission. Just seeing God at work there and the blessings he's given them
2) Learning that I need to know my faith more and to be prepared to give an answer (1 Peter 3:15)
3) Knowing that I am rich in more than money. God has blessed me with so much: family, education, being able to speak English, etc. and finding out that when Jesus says give to the poor, he also means more than money (i.e. time, skills)
4) The team. Our team was A-mazing and hilarious. We did an encouragement circle on Saturday and I could come up with something to say for everyone. Everyone contributed to the team, from musical genius to creativity to humor to thoughtfulness. And it was so obvious that God hand-picked our team and worked in each of our lives.
5) The "El Experience." I think this was touched on a little in a previous entry, but it was soooooo stretching for me to talk to people on the El. Although none of my conversations lead to anything spiritual, it was encouraging to know I actually can carry on a conversation with someone. haha.
6) Realizing I make Jesus invisible when I refuse to withhold talking about him to others. Finding this out really broke my heart but it was a well needed break.
7) Receiving so much encouragement on this trip.
8) Learning- that I am a little racist in my heart and I need to change; that I need to trust in God and trust others; that I cannot fix people, only God can,
9) Seeing God work in the city through all the diverse ministries
10) being stretched beyond comprehension, worshiping God in ways I never thought possible, and just loving life
Please continue to pray for the team. Even though the trip is over, the work is not done. Please pray that we will continue to live out all we've learned, that we would "go slow, but GO." Pray that we would continue to seek to understand others around us. And especially pray for us as we get back into the swing of things here at Taylor. I know a lot of us are apprehensive about this, so pray for peace and discernment and guidance.
"For he himself is our peace, who has made the one and barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility." Ephesians 2:14-16
-Sarah "Scotty" Scott
I left you hanging about the brocksickles in my last entry, and I'm here to set the record straight. A brocksickle (BRAWK-sikh-uhl) is the technical term for the first of a line of products that have been emerging from the murky deptys of the brain of Ben Taylor himself. The idea behind the term is that kids do not eat their veggies nearly enough; when is a mom ever content with their kids' eating habits? The solution, therefore, is to incorporate the yummy things with the un-yummy things. A popsicle+broccoli= voila. As soon as Ben begins a line of this questionable product, the kids will surely be signing up in droves to ingest these delectable treats of veggie goodness. Only time will tell.
So, there have been the obviously predicted shenanigans going on with the team. We do a very good job of entertaining ourselves. For example, last night, the men very tactfully pranked the girls. Essentially, we secured the use of a vacuum cleaner (are you impressed that I know how to spell 'vacuum'?), taped the switch to "ON", plugged it in, threw it into one of their bedrooms, and took off scampering and screaming, thoroughly impressed with our own scandalous acts of mischief. I'm not sure they knew it was us, though it certainly wasn't one of them pranking, well, themselves, though that would have been hilarious--no, they'll never find out, unless you tell them. So please, keep this on the DL, OK?
Yesterday afternoon we actually had the audacity to get on the EL train (not sure what that stands for), having armed ourselves with sheets of bible verses and conversation starters, and we went for it. The assignment was to talk to people, be friendly, and do our best to steer the conversation towards spiritual issues, opinions of the church, and the person's view of God. Initially, and I know that I speak for at least everyone, we were a little scared. It is an uncomfortable thing, to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger, with the hopes of eventually communicating the Good News and the love of God. For myself, I knew that if I didn't jump in and talk to the first person available, it would take awhile to get over the initial hump of taking the first step, so that's what I did. I hope he didn't feel like I was attacking him because I basically sat down in front of him, looked him in the eye, and said, "............". *crickets*. Whoops. I forgot to speak words. I tried again. "Hey, how are you doing?" I croaked. He smiled back and replied that he was doing well, and he was very gracious, so it turned out to be a good first experience. Now, I don't know how this happened, but this first guy, and then every other person I talked to the rest of the ride (which was about five or six others) turned out to be evangelical Christians. I even talked to one Catholic couple. Let me tell you, that was the last thing I was expecting in a random sampling of people riding the EL in Chicago, at 4 in the afternoon of a random Tuesday. By the end, I was wishing that I had talked to every single person I saw because obviously, if I talk to them, they will end up being a Christian. So, I didn't end up sharing my faith with a nonbeliever, but I came away much more encouraged, and I am sure they all did as well, and the Lord certainly used it for good. There are many other vastly different stories from other people on our team, and you will have to pull one of them aside sometime and ask them about their experience on the EL, but the Lord really used each one of us individually to communicate his love to people. One other minor detail about the train ride: on the way back down to the south side, the train exploded. Actually, that isn't entirely true. A bright flash of light and small concussion ripped through the tunnel, being at an underground station at that point in the trip, and everyone panicked. It wasn't actually that much of an explosion, but when the Chicago residents freaked out, we all took the cue and got off with everyone else. We still don't know what happened, but my guess is that there was some sort of electrical shortage or circuiting problem. We were back on the train and moving again in about five minutes, so it was no big deal. All you anxious parents out there: we are fine.
I feel like I need to talk a little more about Joel, the Sunshine Gospel Ministries director. He, his wife, and seven kids (yikes) live here in the middle of a segregated, African-American neighborhood of Chi-town, and they really stick out like a sore thumb. Three of his kids are old enough to be in school, and they happen to be the only three white kids in a public school out of five hundred or so. It is a risky thing to do, especially in a place where gang violence is rampant and crime rates are high, but Joel and his family are actively trusting the Lord in their specific calling to this broken place in urban America.
Joel teaches us in two sessions a day: one in the morning, and one at night. In these sessions we spend about an hour listening to him teach us things that one can only learn from years of hands on experience, and we are learning a TON. This morning he challenged us to rethink our definition about culture, society, and what is considered normal. Our natural tendency as human beings is to believe that the things that are familiar to us, our own habits and ways of life, are inherently good, and that the people and things outside of our realm of experience are bad. Obviously this is isn't true. We need to be able to see the beauty and reflection of God as the divine Creator in the different places and faces of this world. This has to be a starting point from which we can begin to reconcile ourselves to those who are outside of our comfort zone, be it blacks, whites, hispanics, asians, homeless people, dirty people, poor people, corporate-america-people, crazy people, hick people, PEOPLE. 1) Love God, 2) Love people.
Thanks for reading this far, those of you who have made it all the way to here. I salute you and place an imaginary gold star on your respective forheads.
Please be praying for us as we continue through this week! It has been a struggle sometimes with less sleep than we would like, a busy schedule of sessions, projects, meals, devotions, etc, so we need to be able to take it all in and see what the Lord has in store. Thank you for your support thus far, and I/we will be back with more crazy stories and events of ridiculousness that happen here in the Chi-town. Peace out, mah homies.
-Adam Golder
I pulled myself out of bed this morning just barely in time to go up and throw a pancake in my mouth before we had to get over to Sunshine. I was a little sore. Part of that might very well be from the midnight yoga we did before bed last night, but a lot of it was because this week is off like a race horse, and we aren't really stopping to look back.
Now I know that this comes not at the beginning of the week, as it should have, but this is my first chance to get to a computer to get a few words out. Let me then give you a little update on what has happened so far. We drove up here, but on the way stopped at Kyle's (one of our team leaders) house to take a break, eat some magnificent food, and rest up. The next day we arrived in Chi-Town. Sunshine has put us up in a local church that partners with the ministry. It is in an older, mansion-style home in the hyde park neighborhood, which is about 10 minutes away from the ministry by van. We got settled, explored the house, and had some more fun before the week took off.
Sunday morning we went to the easter service at Joel's church (Joel, by the way, is the director of sunshine and a great guy - he has some incredible knowledge and a great heart for this city). The church is a little ways away in teh south shore neighborhood, and the service was incredible. The people there were some of the nicest we had ever met, they even sang us all a welcome song.
The pastor's message was awesome, and he really brought it hard in talking about God possibly not coming in order that his real power might be seen. So, after we had taken in what he said, putting it "in our theological pipe and smoking it." We experienced a little of the city before we had a meeting to sort of prepare us for the week ahead. It was good, and we had some more really solid time with the team to grow together and focus on what God's will was for the week.
Monday morning we had the second session. Joel gave us a lot to think about. How are we supposed to respond to people around us who have needs? There are so many. Truthfully, our actions in themselves are incapable of fixing even the needs that we do see and that we have the ability to do something about. So what do we do? Joel showed us Luke 6:30 (right before the golden rule): "Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back"
Wow. Everyone? Thats completely insane. Of course, you could interpret that many ways, but Joel encouraged us to look at it just at face value. What would our motives be? How would it work? What people are really asking? Does it need to be verbal, or is the shaking of a cup enough?
That giving is so Christ-like, but so unatural to us. It takes a lot of thought to just wrap your mind around the concept, much less actually get out and do it.
So with that to think about, we took a bus and the el to chinatown to see the ministry going on down there. You should see adam's blog if you want to know a little more about that, he's got some good stories.
Dinner, one more session that night, singing, praying, massages, yoga, sleep, and another session this morning, and now I am here, writing to you all. And Im really sorry, but Ive got to get out of here to go do some work on a house.
However, before I go I would really like to hightlight some of the people we have met.
First there is Jimmy Lee. He rather artfully described himself as a black egyptian gay former minister. We met him in McDonalds sunday morning and over the past two days he has called Kyle at least eight times. After he met us he left to go to missippi. He's got plans to release a music album (hes a singer). And kyle is his friend for life. He is quite an interesting character, and he needs your prayers.
Then there is Mhammed. On the bus last night Jessica ended up sitting next to him, and over the course of the conversation she revealed that we were here on spring break working with a ministry. During a conversation the lasted through the rest of the bus ride and quite a while on the sidewalk, she was able to talk to him about her faith and he was able to talk to her about his, Islam. At the end of the conversation Ben was able to give him a Bible. Keep him in your prayers as well.
I really need to go. More updates later. Keep us and these people in your prayers. Our lives are changing. We are learning. We are loving.
-Sam
I'm sure most of you have noticed, as you've been sitting on the edges of your respective seats, that we have not yet posted a blog from the actual location of Chicago. We've decided to play hard to get, so now that we are already several days into the trip, you will of course be itching to read every little morsel.
I am sitting right now in Sunshine Gospel Ministry's tech center alongside my fellow intrepid (and not to mention dashing) blogger, Sam Edgins. We are actually supposed to be at a service project right now with a group of guys, and this is one of the few times that we have had a window in our schedule to write about what has been going on. And so, being rushed as it is, I apologize for the lack of creativity and/or editing for which you no doubt have already seen the need, but bear with me.
I'm not sure what Sam is writing right now, but he has been pounding furiously on the keyboard for the last ten minutes, so I am assuming some sort of arrangement is coming out. Hopefully you won't end up reading the same thing from both of us.
We arrived in Chicago Saturday evening, and soon were settled in to Ellis Avenue Church, our home for the week. It is a mansion that was bought several years ago and turned into a church, so it still has a homey (spelling?) touch to it and it is a good home base to come back to. We spend mornings and evenings here at Sunshine Gospel listening to Joel, their director, teach us from his experiences in inner city missions. These sessions are very informative and profound, as most of us are not familiar with the inner workings of this kind of mission field, but we are learning a lot. In between meals and sessions with Joel, we have been doing various projects that introduce us to the areas of need and poverty in the city. Sunday was spent at a local church that rocked the house for Jesus with many hallelujas and amens, and the pastor required a beach towel to keep himself from drowning in his own sweat. It was a rockin sweet time.
The first real experience we have had with ministry so far was yesterday, Monday, when we all took the bus and train over to Chinatown. There we were introduced to the organization called Pui Tak, which is a local ministry center that reaches out to newly-arrived immigrants from China. They serve in various ways, such as youth ministry, children's group, ESL classes (English as a Second Language), and culture classes. I'm sure that I'm forgetting others, but you get the idea. After hearing from two of their staff members, we were given several options of what to do with the afternoon. One thing that we were encouraged to do was to walk around the several blocks that comprise Chinatown, see the sights and visit the shops, and spend time in prayer while being in those places. Myself and two of the girls did exactly that, praying as we went, and also doing some window shopping and tasting the culture.
Later that evening I volunteered along with four others from our Taylor group and went to help teach an ESL class that was provided through the Pui Tak organization. Upon arrival, we were paired up with one of the students, handed a sheet of conversation starters, and told to talk with our assignment for an hour. At first it sounded a little intimidating, but soon we were all at ease with the kind and good-humored students in the class. I ended up with Chiu Wong, an 84-year-old woman who had lived in Chinatown for twenty years. She had just recently retired and now had the time to intentionally learn English. We had a wonderful conversation through her very broken English, and even became pen pals, after she coaxed my phone number and email address out of me. Since she didn't have an email, I set one up for her on Yahoo, and spent at least fifteen minutes guiding her through the steps that were necessary to write me an email. I will be very impressed if I receive anything from her in the coming weeks!
That is the extent of what has happened so far, and there is still more coming. As soon as we are done here, as I mentioned earlier, Sam and I are off to some sort of manual labor service project. Then, after lunch, we will all head over to the Chicago train system (called the "L") and do our best to talk to people and love them the way Jesus would. That sounds like it will be the most intimidating thing we will have done so far, but I am sure that the Lord will use us in whatever way He has in mind.
I am so sorry, but I must cut it off here. There are so many things I wish I could have written, even after only three days, but the other guys are probably cursing under their breath and wishing that THEY could have the coveted position of a blogger and get out of some quality back-breaking labor.
Also, remind me to tell you about brocksickles in my next blog. They will change your life.
-Adam "Adam" Golder
Healers always say
Whores and angels; men with problems
Leavers always say
Broken hearted; separated
Orphans always say
War creators; racial haters
Preachers always say
Distant fathers; fallen warriors
Givers always say
Pilgrim saints; lonely widows
Users always say
Fearful mothers; watchful doubters
Saviors always say... Oh my God"
I just listened to the song "Oh my God" by Jars of Clay and it is so perfect for our trip. If you haven't heard the whole song you have got to listen to it or at least check out the rest of the lyrics.
In one of our meetings a couple weeks ago, two professors from the sociology department came in and talked to us about what we should expect while in Chicago. One of the things they said that really ties in with, well everything, was that we should "seek to understand, not to be understood." Of course, that's the advice that scares me the most. Often, I just want to be heard, for someone to relate to me or listen to my problems. But this week we are encouraged to put ourselves aside and just listen to what these people- the ailing wanderers, whores, men with problems, orphans, and the watchful doubters- listen to what they have to say. It's going to be hard, but oh so worth it.
I think the thing that excites me the most about this trip is that it will stretch me way out of my comfort zone. Smelly, frazzled, homeless guy- not the first person I'd have a conversation with. And then to actually sit down and have a conversation with him. Oh man. But something inside me gets so pumped for this. It may be odd, but I am really ready to get out of this affluent, complacent hole called upper middle class living. I want to experience something else.
*God, this is something that has been on my heart a while. Open the eyes of the people on the team. Open the eyes of the people of Chicago. Help us to understand.*
Get pumped!! Only 12 more hours to go!!
-Sarah Scott
Someone asked me recently where I was going to spend spring break this year. I told him I was going to Chicago. He congratulated me on picking a prime location for weekend festivities and general mayhem with my friends. "No," I had to explain. "It's a spring break trip. Kind of like a mission trip, except we're not leaving the country." My friend looked confused for a second, and then asked "Well, what are you going to DO?" I got slightly awkward when I realized that I didn't have an answer for him, because quite frankly, I don't know. Our team leaders aren't entirely sure either, but we know that it might involve homeless people, cold showers, gang violence, and Ben Taylor. All of these factors, we are told, will eventually gel together into some shapeless mass that is the Chicago trip; Ben Taylor was a bonus.
It is already days away from this impending masquerade, and I don't know where the time went. It feels like only yesterday that I met our team for the first time at dinner in the DC, where I went through the initiation ceremony of being force-fed by one of the girls; I'm not sure she recovered from the experience. We are told that this had something to do with learning to be a servant, and we will take their word for it.
Our leaders are three very sweet people (and by sweet, I mean sah-WEET): Ben Taylor, Deanna Ingerham, and Kyle Lantz, in no particular order. Besides the fact that they can and will cook food for us, Kyle and Ben have taken up the flag of years of past spring break trips and are shooting for the record of Worst-Smelling-Team-Leaders-Known-To-Man. The means to this grisly detail of our trip? 1) Using only one backpack to fill with clothes to wear on the trip, in order to conserve much-needed space in the vans, and 2) Sharing the backpack. Yes, we are impressed with the will power that it will take to not take their clothes out of the accursed backpack (which will have formed its own bio system by Day 3) and fervently wash them in the Chicago River. It will not matter that the river might still have a green tint to it after the St. Patrick Day festivities, but we will know when they cave in because they will come back with clothes that do not match anything except themselves, and, maybe, Green Lantern. So don't be surprised if you return from your spring break, Taylor students, and you see two burly men walking around campus with a neon green glow emanating from their pores. Just smile and nod.
We haven't even left yet and I am already anticipating more of the same excitement that has been part of our team meetings, again, thanks in large part to the Ben-Kyle combo. Deanna is like the mom, I think, because putting a bunch of students under their supervision for a week might have been akin to asking Jack Black to baby sit your five-year-old. Something will end up being destroyed, shredded, or whammied, in the name of Rock. I know that she has the skills to keep them under control, while they in turn keep us under control, because you have to have that kind of cool to be a hall-director. You can pray for her right now, and I mean NOW, as the sanity of this trip hangs in the balance in the person of Deanna Ingerham.
Until next time, heres to hoping there is a next time, assuming we don't end up washing clothes in the Chicago River all week long, though I am sure in one way or another, it would have something to do with integrating faith and learning. Chicago team, we're almost out of here!
-Adam Golder
